Former President of Taiwan, Mr. CHEN Shui-Bian, was indicted for massive embezzlement, accepting bribery, and money laundering. When he took office in 2000, Taiwan was the brightest of the 4 dragons of Asia. (The other three are S. Korean, Hong Kong, and Singapore.) Eight years later, not only China has firmly grabbed the spotlight, Taiwan has also missed out many opportunities to capitalize from it. This is a huge shame. People on both sides of the strait speak the same language and share much of the culture. Taiwan should have been the main benefactor of China’s growth. Instead, the island was mired in the ideological differences and stuck in the bitter fissure of suspicion and distrust amont themselves. Mr. Chen and family allegedly embezzled over US$18 millions while squandering the future of 22 million Taiwan people.
Today begins the era of direct flights from Taiwan to China. Since 1949, there has been no direct air, sea, or postal links between them. In 1992, both sides agreed that there is only one China and they are part of it. They simply have a different idea of which government represents China. Starting in 2003, they allowed chartered planes to fly directly on occassions.
When I was living in Beijing, it took me a whole day to cover the mere 1,000 mile flight to Taipei (just a bit shorter than the distance between Seattle to Los Angeles). My heart aches whenever I see opportunity missed by ideological stupidity.
Are direct links too late to reverse the island’s sink? I don’t know. But many friends will now be glad to visit their family or take a weekend vacation to the other side. That cannot be bad.